​Atlantic City Mega-Site Glitch Causes Many To Lose Appointments

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Dozens of South Jersey residents encountered website glitches while trying to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at the Atlantic City mega-site on Tuesday.

The website glitch caused people to lose their place in line when it was their turn to book one of the 1,180 available appointments, according to an AtlantiCare spokesperson.

Jennifer Tornetta said the health provider has identified the issue that caused the glitch.

“We believe we have resolved the issue,” Tornetta said in a statement. “We understand that this caused unnecessary disappointment and frustration for many. We sincerely apologize to those who were impacted. Although vaccine supply is limited, we remain committed to providing our community with the vaccine as quickly as possible.”

As the state's COVID-19 vaccine supplies remain limited, eligible residents have found it difficult to secure appointments.

Henry Waldron, who lost his place in line after the glitch, told Patch that the technical problem further added to the confusion involved in signing up for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Out of more than 16,000 users who logged on the website at 2 p.m., Waldron’s assigned number initially put him at the 53rd place in line to book an appointment. This came as a relief after his number was 28,608 when he tried to schedule an appointment last week.

After he sat in the digital waiting room for an hour, Waldron should have been redirected to the appointment site. But when the website redirected him, it removed him from the waiting room entirely.

When he revisited the website to start the process over, his new number placed him behind thousands of other people waiting in line.

"Given that I have to spend hours waiting online for a random chance at a vaccine, the least I expect is competency and fairness," Waldron said. “What bothers me even more is that there is no formal guide on what to do if you actually get redirected and get a chance to make an appointment."

Waldron said these technical issues put even more stress on his neighbors who are senior citizens and have little experience with navigating the internet.

For senior citizens without internet access, New Jersey launched a hotline to help preregister for the vaccine over the phone. The call center can be reached at 855-568-0545 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

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